The Super Bowl is an aggressive, full contact, cut-throat competition. So is selling.
Here are five things you can learn from top NFL teams that will help you — and everyone in your sales organization — sell like a superstar.
1. Have a plan.
What are the chances of making it to the end zone if a team doesn’t have a plan and playbook to get them there? Exactly.
The same is true when it comes to winning the sales game.
You need a comprehensive plan that defines and guides your overall sales process, along with a playbook that explains how to handle individual selling situations. Without these things, your dealing with chaos on the sales field, leaving your competitors an opening to steal the deal away from you.
If you haven’t defined and documented your end-to-end sales process, make it a priority. Once you do, develop a playbook that includes key talking points, FAQs, ways to overcome objections and recommended collateral for every step of your sales process.
Run your selling program through a sales enablement system like the one offered by Mobile Locker. It will ensure that everyone on your team is playing at their peak.
2. Practice the hand-off.
Football teams have quarterbacks and running backs. Two different types of athletes with different skills performing very different functions. The same should be true of the people on your sales team.
Every top sales organization has excellent relationship builders, great explainers and killer closers. It’s rare that anyone individual has all these skills.
Identify who on your team is good at what. Once you do, figure out a process for transferring responsibilities from one person to another through the sales process. Figure out how to give the buyer the optimal experience while making the most of your talent so you close more deals.
Smooth handoffs put more points on the board.
3. Control emotions.
Teams that miss the playoffs train and practice, but let emotions get in the way of ultimate success. Anger, fear, extreme exuberance and other emotions cause them to lose focus and make mistakes that lead to losses.
Super Bowl teams also train and practice, but the players on them are able to keep their emotions in check, even when a 300 plus pound linebacker is heading their way.
Successful salespeople should be trained to do the same. They must practice their sales pitches and figure out how to calmly and clearly overcome buyer objections when they come up. There’s nothing worse than a rep dropping the ball, not being able to respond to customer queries.
Coming up with a list of responses to common objections will help you and the others on your team to recover from fumbles and put points on the board. Distribute them through a sales enablement system like Mobile Locker’s to make them available any place, any time, whenever questions or objections could block a deal.
4. Respect the competition.
Every team thinks they’re the best and they should. It’s great to feel confident. Still, it’s a mistake to take any other team for granted.
It’s not enough to be able to perfectly execute the sales tactics in your own playbook. You also need to know the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors and figure out how to exploit them. It’s the only way you and your team can position your products and services so they’re viewed by buyers in the best light. It also gives you the information needed to plan for questions and objections.
A little research on the other businesses you’re competing against could go a long way toward preparing to play against their strengths and take advantage of the holes in their line-up.
5. Play every game like it’s the Super Bowl.
Even football hall-of-famers have bad days, but they never use it as an excuse to play at less than their best. To make it to the Super Bowl, they approach every game leading up to it like it is the ultimate championship showdown. It’s the only way to prevent losses that could keep them out of the playoffs.
As a salesperson and team, you have to adopt the same mindset. Every call, meeting, and interaction has to be played like it’s for the close. In the same way that every play that leads to a touchdown matters, every perception a buyer has of you, your team, and your business contributes to their decision about whether to work with you. Any fumble along the way could give them a reason to give the win to one of your competitors.
Handling every client interaction like an MVP will lead to a winning sales record.
